TracFone VoLTE replacement - deadline? cheapest option?

January 26, 2022 8:53 AM

A relative has a cheap phone and TracFone service. TracFone is requiring them to upgrade to a VoLTE-compatible phone. What's the process, and what's the cheapest option?

My relative doesn't use the phone for anything other than minimal calls while out of the house - no texting, no data. TracFone has been a good solution for the past 5 years or so.

TracFone has notified them that they need to upgrade to a VoLTE-compatible phone "by February."

* What's the cheapest compatible phone? Will the TracFone BLU B130DL work?
* What's the actual deadline - early February? late February? (I think I've read that it's a matter of AT&T shutting down a network - is there any fixed date when that will happen?)
* What's the actual step-by-step process for transferring from an old phone to a new phone using TracFone? Will they need to transfer a SIM card or anything?

Thanks for any help you can provide! I want to help my relative, but I've never done this process and am not sure exactly how it works.

posted by kristi to Technology (6 answers total)

Best answer: Yes, the BLU B130DL will work. It says it will connect to 4G VoLTE as you linked.

Searching AT&T news did not reveal a specific date, just "February 2022".

Specific procedure to transfer service to new phone will differ. Probably easiest to call 1-800-867-7183 as per their blog. Transfering service itself should be easy: just given them the cell number and the new device's IMEI or MEID. Keep in mind many tracfones don't have physical SIM cards.
posted by kschang at 11:23 AM on January 26, 2022

Best answer: This might help. They do say that any phone offered on the Tracfone website is compatible. Transfering the SIM card to new phone should be the only thing that needs to done once you get it.
posted by bluefrog at 11:25 AM on January 26, 2022

Response by poster: Oh, bluefrog, thank you for that link! They give a date for the AT&T shutdown - Feb 22nd, 2022 - so maybe I have more than 5 days to figure this out.

Thanks for the great comments so far - if anyone has any more info, I'd love to have it!
posted by kristi at 11:54 AM on January 26, 2022

Best answer: I've been using Tracfones for years, and have gotten new phones a few times. I've never needed to physically swap out a Sim card. Tracfone gives you really clear steps for activating your new phone with your existing number
posted by hydropsyche at 12:11 PM on January 26, 2022

Best answer: Hsn.com and qvc.com are the cheapest places for Tracfone and usually have year-months/minutes bundled with them. Just do a search on the site for Tracfone and sort by low to high price.
posted by stray thoughts at 8:39 PM on January 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you all for the very helpful answers!

I ended up working with my relative to get the very cheapest TracFone at their site - the Blu View 2 (I think), which the rep assured me would work with VoLTE.

As it turned out, even though TracFone said their Free Upgrade Phone offer expired in November, they actually did discount it 100% at checkout, so my relative is very pleased to have gotten a free phone.

The only thing left is the actual transfer process, and I'm going to follow all the online instructions I can find and keep my fingers crossed.

Thank you all so much for helping me (and my relative!) figure this out!
posted by kristi at 9:10 PM on January 27, 2022